sunn o)))

November 19, 2013  The Necks, Open (Northern Spy)The most beautiful album of the year isn’t by Bill Callahan or Haim or Boards of Canada or Susan Boyle, but by these Australian slowpoke-jazz cult heroes. The Necks have been creating mesmerizing, slowly unraveling improv for 25 years, but have enjoyed a recent revival thanks to some rare Stateside gigs, Nick Cave and M. …Read on

September 20, 2012  Sound-sculpture savants and ambient-rock cult faves Fontanelle are returning after an 10-year hiatus with a record for doom metal stalwart Southern Lord. The last we heard from 'em, they released three records on Kranky in the early aughts and dissolved, members splintering off into experimental projects like Strategy and Nudge or, in the case of ex-Jessamine guitarist Rex Ritter, adding Moog flourishes to SunnO))) records. …Read on

June 19, 2012  "As soon as volume exceeds 80 decibels, blood pressure rises," wrote jazz scribe Joachim-Ernst Berendt in 1983. "The stomach and intestine operate more slowly, the pupils become larger, and the skin gets paler…Unconsciously, we always react to noise like Stone Age beings. …Read on

October 1, 2009  In 1970, Black Sabbath drained the blues from hard rock, slowing it into a depresso nightmare trudge with Frankenstein feet. Myriad masters of riff followed suit: Uriah Heep, Sir Lord Baltimore, Bang, Budgie. But when metal turned too fancy for its britches, doom metal had to drag it back to the dungeon. …Read on

May 26, 2009  Here's a rundown of the essential albums available online and in record stores today:
Grizzly Bear, VeckatimestIndie rock's crafty connoisserurs refine their sorrow. Read Review >>
Marilyn Manson, The High End of LowThe overlord of the overblown justifies his sleaze. …Read on